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In today’s AP article on Wal-Mart’s plan for resurgence, CEO Mike Duke spoke about leadership actions. He included showing respect to all, listening, getting feedback from many sources and striving for excellence.

“I think it’s even better for a leader to set an aggressive goal and come up a little short than it would be to set a soft goal and to exceed it.” Mike Duke, President, CEO, Wal-Mart Stores.

As you finalize and formalize your new goals for the year, let’s take another look and see where they rank on the Green Light Scale. Which ones can be ramped up to one more Green?What would be your most vital three-Green Light goal – your Ideal Scenario?Sit with it a bit and visualize it, including seeing what your life will be like when you achieve it. Soak it in, lap it up, feel it in your cells, see it in your mind’s eye. Reconfirm it frequently, perhaps by having it on a Post It note or file card. GO for the Greenest Goal.

It’s Super Bowl today. I’ll be tailgating by the waters of Elliott Bay, rooting for the GREEN BayPackers – but of course!

Ah, twas a feast – and a great game – and a GREENvictory. Quite the show.

INTENTION. What is the intention? What is the driving force – RedorGreen – behind an action? That is key to determining the results of the action– RedorGreen. In the situation above, if the writer’s intention was truly to be inspirational and to salute the great spirit behind the compassionate way folks responded to this serious challenge, the vitriolic inserts between photos would have not even been a thought, let alone an action. Before we take an action, it’s helpful to ask ourselves, “What is my intention?” When it is to make good things happen, it’s a GO signal. Otherwise, it’s a STOP sign. Let us keep moving toward our Greenest intentions, ourGreenest actions. GO for it!

I just received a forwarded message with photos of the 25’ of snow that turned North Dakota in a vast white sea, with even higher waves of solid white water. The message celebrated the spirit of the people – everyone doing what they could to help – on their own. They were united in making good things happen – taking in stranded strangers, using whatever equipment they had to help, searching for folks trapped in vehicles.

The story itself was amazing and inspiring. Yet it was contaminated and diminished by the political viewpoints strewn between stunning photos. (Appropriately, these were even printed in red.) This is a common situation with many such emails – a good point/story turned into a political weapon. It can be a not-so-cleverly disguised, psychologically abusive tactic. It leaves a bad taste in the spirit. Absent that ulterior motive, the misguided effort to use it for political venting, it would have remained the extraordinarily Green story it truly was.

I grew up in on a farm in Iowa and experienced the same selfless spirit in countless situations. A few years ago, an over the100-year-level flood hit my home territory – followed in a couple weeks by a killer tornado. People came from across the state and beyond to help in all kinds of ways. Even those with devastating losses were out helping others. Self-reliance, a caring, ACTION-oriented style drove them. It was a politics-free, agenda-free, heart-driven endeavor.